About the area

Paleokastritsa is the honey pot of the west coast, with hotels spreading so far up into the surrounding area that some are a taxi ride from town. The village itself is small, surrounded by hills and cliffs – an idyllic setting which led British High Commissioner Sir Frederic Adam to popularize Paleokastritsa in the nineteenth century.
…It has been suggested as a possible site of the Homeric city of Scheria, where Odysseus was washed ashore, discovered by Nausica and her handmaidens and welcomed by her father King Alkinos, although this is a claim shared by a number of other sites in the islands.

The thirteenth-century Paleokastritsa monastery overlooks the town, and a circuitous 6km or so north is the Angelokastro castle, one of the most impressive ruins on the island.
…The small monastery church, set amidst an attractive complex of courtyards, archways, monks’ cells, oil presses and storerooms, has a number of impressive icons, including depictions of St George and the dragon and an atmospheric Last Judgement, while the ceiling features a woodcarving of the Tree of Life.

…There’s also a museum, resplendent with further icons, most notably a beautiful Dormition of the Virgin Mary, jewel-encrusted silver-bound Bibles and other impedimenta of Greek Orthodox ritual, as well as a curious “sea monster”, with very large vertebrae and tusks, said to have been killed by fishermen in the last century.

…Angelokastro. There are shortcut paths through open country from Paleokastritsa, but the main approach, and certainly the only one by car, involves doubling back to the Lakones turning and heading for the village of Makrades, a route with some of the finest views in the region.

Also:
– Explore the traditional village of Lakones with its narrow alleys and traditional old houses.
– Visit the ancient village of Krini (immortalized by Homer) and climb to the top of the ancient fortress of Angelocastro which has been situated here since 565 A.D.!
– From the village of Macrades there is an old footpath which leads to Aghios Georgios, a local tourist resort.
– Stroll to the monastery of Agia Paraskevi, it was built on the 18th century which is inhabited by nuns and is only 5 minutes from the Golden Fox.
– Clamber up Mount Iraklis (Hercules) through the old rough-stone footpaths of Lakones.